A Mask Of Ugliness
by rexlover180
Summary: Arthur has been locked up his whole life, unable to really see anyone. Until a gypsy named Alfred comes in and changes his whole world. Everything he thinks he knows is just proven wrong.


Arthur had been told since he could remember that he was hideous. No one should ever be forced to look at his face because it would be torture. He was told to never look at a mirror, for it would shatter upon sight. He had to stay locked up in his room in order to spare the world. His eldest brother would come in at least once a day to give him food and water. And to remind him why he could never see real sunlight.

His room was very simple. It was very tiny, too. It could barely hold the small bed and desk that rested against the walls. There was a light brown pillow and dark brown blanket that barely kept him warm through the winter. He would use the desk to either write or read, when his brother was kind enough to bring him a book. There was a small window near his short ceiling that would let in the sun, wind, rain, and snow.

Arthur had always worn the same clothes since he had stopped growing years ago. A green tunic, green pants, and no shoes. He wasn't worth shoes, they were far too grand. It was a wonder his toes hadn't fallen off with frostbite yet.

One other thing that came out of that window, though, was noise. Beautiful noise. He could hear the laughter of children and lovers all around him. And he could hear music all the time. People would clap to it and congratulate whoever was dancing. Gypsies were what they were called, so he heard. It always made him smile, especially when he could hear festivals. One of his favorites was about to start, the Feast of Fools. It always made Arthur laugh, hearing how people would dress up as hideously as they could. Arthur could probably win that contest easily…

Arthur was currently reading a story. One he had found in the library the church had. It was about a knight in shining armor going to save a damsel in distress. Arthur found himself oddly attracted to books such as these. He would always have dreams about a knight coming in to save him from what he was forced to go through every day. But he was too old for fairy tales. No one was coming to save him, he had resigned himself to that fact a while ago.

Suddenly, though, he heard a scream from a woman and then the place outside his window fell quiet.

"What the hell did you just do?" a familiar voice demanded. That was Arthur's brother, Scott.

"Hey, I didn't do anything," an unfamiliar voice tried to say, but it seemed like Scott would have nothing of it.

"You used witchcraft," Scott growled. "That can be punishable by death, sorcerer."

"I didn't do anything!" the voice yelled at him.

"Then explain the fear everyone just went through," Scott stated.

"Running," the voice muttered quietly and Arthur could hear fast footsteps.

"After him!" Scott nearly screamed and more footsteps followed, all of them seeming to be running. It was a shame Arthur's window was so high up, he wanted to see what was happening.

Apparently, though, he didn't need to follow it, it came to him. A door beyond his own slammed open loudly and the footsteps continued. Arthur nearly pressed his ear against the door to hear what was happening.

"Anything to say before you die?" Scott spat.

"Um…sanctuary?" the voice muttered.

There was a short silence, and then suddenly, "Damn you!" Scott yelled at him.

"Hey, you're in a church, buddy," the voice laughed slightly. "Calm down."

"You take one step out of here and consider yourself dead," Scott growled and a lot of footsteps came again, becoming softer and softer until they all disappeared.

There were more voices, but they were quieter. Arthur really wanted to know what was going on. His hand rested on the knob to his door. His brother had warned him to never leave his room, but that didn't mean he hadn't done it a couple times. He's always been dreadfully curious. That was how he knew he lived in a church, stuck in a room on the bottom floor. He had been up to the top on a couple occasions, just to see the view from there. The town was beautiful…It was just a shame it had to bear the hideousness of Arthur…

And so, like usual, Arthur flipped up the hood Scott had attached to his tunic so that it covered his head. He could only see the ground this way, but at least he could hear. He quickly made his way out of his room and silently down the hall. Soon, he was among the people in the church, who were praying for things like wealth and glory.

He had only been this close to people once before and it still put him on edge. What if one of them tried to look up his hood? Surely, they would scream, and then his brother would know he was sneaking out when he wasn't around…

Arthur silently shook his head, hoping to get those ideas out of his head. He could hear what the only voices talking in the church were saying.

"You're very lucky, lad," that was the voice of the priest.

"Am I supposed to just live here now?" the voice from before sighed. "I'm a gypsy. I like to be free. And now I'm surrounded by stone walls…"

"It's better than being dead," the priest said.

"Sure," the voice sighed.

"We will be very happy to keep you, Alfred," the priest stated and Arthur heard him walk away. Alfred. That was his name… And he was trapped here just like Arthur… "And you." The priest walked up to Arthur now and he lowered his head. "Scott told me that you were to stay in your room and this is about the third time I've caught you out."

"I'm sorry," Arthur muttered, his voice a little rough from lack of use. It had been about a week since Scott had permitted him to speak.

"I give you mercy, as I am a man of God," the priest stated. "But if Scott were to catch you…"

"I know," Arthur sighed. "I know."

"Then you should go back," the priest turned him around. "This matter does not concern you."

Arthur just nodded and started back to his room.

"Who's he?" Alfred asked.

"No one you should worry about," the priest assured.

"Why?" Alfred asked and Arthur heard footsteps following him. "Hey, can I talk to you?"

Arthur just stayed quiet and kept walking, a little faster, though.

"Hey, wait!" Alfred called out and a hand was placed on Arthur's shoulder. But, as Arthur tried to keep walking, that hand pushed the hood down.

"No!" Arthur nearly screamed and started running. Thankfully, he couldn't hear anyone follow him as he ran into his room and slammed the door closed. Someone could have seen him…Someone could have told Scott… Arthur could feel himself trembling as he slowly sat down on his bed.

No one should be forced to see him. Especially not that gypsy, Alfred.

* * *

It had been a day, only a day. And Arthur could still hear Alfred pacing all over the building, muttering to himself. He really couldn't deal with small spaces. Arthur nearly laughed at the thought of Alfred going through what he's had to. Then again, Alfred probably wouldn't have the same problem as Arthur.

Scott didn't come today, Arthur noticed with a growling stomach. He was probably doing something with the guards. The threat he gave Alfred earlier felt more like a promise.

"I can't do this!" Alfred yelled, awfully close to Arthur's door and Arthur jumped when he heard something slam against his door. "Maybe I should just sew my mouth shut so I stop getting into trouble…"

Arthur let out a small laugh at that. But it was a little too loud. Alfred stopped talking for a little bit.

"Hello?" Alfred asked after a while. Arthur stayed silent. "Are you in this room?" Arthur shook his head, hoping deep in his soul that would make him go away. Sadly, though his door was pushed open and Arthur quickly flipped his hood up, standing in front of his bed. "You're the guy from yesterday, right?"

Arthur shakily nodded.

"Do you live here?"

Arthur nodded again.

"What's your name?"

"Arthur," Arthur muttered.

"Scott sent me in here to make sure you weren't poking your nose in things you shouldn't," a new voice entered the conversation. It sounded very…French. "This is one of those things."

"Is he that big secret Lord Kirkland is hiding?" Alfred asked.

"You should just stay away from him," the Frenchman stated.

"Why?" Alfred asked.

"As the Captain of the Guard, I have to demand you step away from him," the Frenchman warned.

"And you can't hurt me while I'm in here," Alfred challenged.

"It is not what I will do," the Captain of the Guard stated. "It is what he will."

"What will he do?" Alfred asked. "He's not a sorcerer, Lord Kirkland would have killed him by now."

"He is hideous," the Captain of the Guard laughed mercilessly and Arthur winced. "Even stone will crack if he looks at it. You'll faint upon sight."

"Really?" Alfred asked and Arthur could practically hear the grin in his voice. Before Arthur could do anything, his hood was taken down. Arthur's eyes widened in horror. He could see a man right in front of him with soft blue eyes like the sky and sandy blonde, raggedy hair, he had on a soft smile on his face. And then there was a man a little bit further behind him with long, wavy blonde hair that was covering his face. Eventually, he peeked his eyes up curiously, they were blue, but not as nice as the man's in front of Arthur.

"Mon dieu," the man gaped at him, dropping his hands.

"I don't see anything hideous," the man in front of him, Alfred, smiled at Arthur.

"You're lying," Arthur quickly looked down at the floor. He didn't want someone like Alfred to be forced to look at him.

"Th-that's the face of Arthur Kirkland?" the Captain of the Guard's voice shook. "It's…"

"I see nothing wrong with him," Alfred put both of his hands on Arthur's face, making him look up at him. He lightly stroked his thumb on Arthur's cheek.

"You don't have to pity me," Arthur shook his head and waved off Alfred's hands. He looked back to the ground.

"Tu est trés beau," the Captain of the Guard muttered in French. Arthur didn't know French, but he knew it was probably some kind of insult.

"Sorry," Arthur muttered and moved to put his hood up, but Alfred's hands stopped him.

"Why are you sorry?" Alfred asked, making Arthur look at him again by cupping his chin and lifting his head.

"You shouldn't have to look at me, I'm hideous…" Arthur muttered, not looking Alfred in the eye.

"I-I'm going to go get Lord Kirkland…" the Captain of the Guard muttered and Arthur's eyes widened in shook, staring at him as he left.

"Not on my watch," Alfred muttered and grabbed onto Arthur's wrist and ran out of the room. Arthur nearly tripped over himself trying to follow him. They were going upstairs, up the winding staircases to the roof of the church. Arthur had been up there just a few times.

By the time they got up there, Arthur was panting heavily, he never really left his room, so exercise wasn't exactly good for him.

"Sorry," Alfred laughed slightly at seeing how out of shape Arthur was. They had just emerged on the roof. "You gonna be okay?"

Arthur nodded, panting.

"Okay," Alfred nodded and ran over to the edge of the roof. "So, the second they come up here, I want you to claim sanctuary, got it?"

"Why?" Arthur asked.

"So that he can't hurt you," Alfred turned his head slightly to look at him. "I saw the way you looked when the Captain of the Guard went after Lord Kirkland."

"But-"

"You gotta trust me, okay?" Alfred looked at him until he nodded and then turned to scanning below them. "There's a lot of guards around this castle…Are they because of me?"

"Maybe," Arthur muttered. This was almost like a real conversation. The first conversation he had ever had with someone.

"My name's Alfred, by the way," Alfred stated.

"I-I know," Arthur said quietly, scared if Alfred would think he was weird for already knowing. He liked him even though he was the most hideous thing that had walked the Earth… No one was ever that nice to him…

"Sweet," Alfred smiled back at him for a second. "They're all coming inside. Perfect."

"Wh-what are you planning?" Arthur asked.

"Trust me," Alfred walked back towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Arthur shakily nodded, still not looking Alfred in the eyes. "Why won't you look at me?"

"Y-You shouldn't have to look at me," Arthur stared down at his feet. "I'm hideous…"

"What has he been teaching you?" Alfred asked and wiped away tears Arthur didn't know he was shedding.

"Arthur!" Scott yelled behind them and Arthur froze. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Say it," Alfred whispered to him.

"Shut up, you demon!" Scott spat.

"S-Sanc…" Arthur couldn't bring himself to say it.

Alfred just grabbed Arthur and positioned him behind his back. "Sanctuary," Alfred stared at Scott defiantly. Arthur shrank back slightly when Scott's dark green eyes narrowed. It seemed like his red hair was about to burst into flames.

"What the hell is your hood doing down?" Scott glared at Arthur.

When Arthur didn't say anything, Alfred spoke up for him. "I took it off him. And I don't know how you can sleep at night when you've been brainwashing him into thinking he's hideous."

"He is," Scott scoffed. "Have you seen the little bastard?"

"He's your brother!" Alfred spat back. "And you keep him locked up in a room all day just so you can feel better about yourself because you have a punching bag!"

"Are you calling me a liar?" Scott narrowed his eyes at him.

"I don't see a trace of ugliness on him," Alfred stated. "But I see a lot on you."

"Damn gypsy, what do you know?!" Scott back handed him, making Alfred's face go off to the side.

"You broke sanctuary!" Alfred pointed at him.

"So what?" Scott scoffed.

"Run," Alfred muttered and grabbed Arthur's wrist. Soon, they were running through all the soldiers and going back down the stairs.

"Where are we going?" Arthur panted.

"I got a plan," Alfred smiled back at him for a second before he turned back ahead. They were on the bottom floor again and they rushed to the front door, which Alfred burst out of.

"Aren't you afraid of them catching you?" Arthur asked. Now that they were out of the church, he wasn't under sanctuary any more. Neither of them were.

"They couldn't if they tried," Alfred laughed as they kept running. Eventually, they ran into a familiar face. That Captain of the Guard.

"Wait!" he called out and grabbed onto Arthur's arm, making them both stop. "I got something for you."

"Sorry, no time," Alfred panted and Arthur saw the Captain of the Guard pull out a small hand mirror. Out of reflex, Arthur tried to flip up his hood. "Hold on."

Alfred let go of Arthur's wrist and quickly grabbed onto the hood. Arthur heard a loud rip from behind him and Alfred dropped the cloth that was his hood in front of him.

"That makes me feel better," Alfred sighed and turned his attention back to that Captain of the Guard. "No time, gotta go."

And they started running again, much to Arthur's dismay. He was starting to loose feeling in his legs and he was almost hyperventilating to try and breathe. But they eventually stopped. In a yard full of dead grass and stones with writing on them. A graveyard, from what Arthur had read, he was pretty sure.

"They've probably followed us so we gotta work fast," Alfred muttered and let go of Arthur again. They were in front of a large stone box, big enough for a man to fit in, probably. It looked like a coffin, until Alfred pulled open the top and stairs appeared. "Sorry, but we gotta run some more. Almost done, though."

"O-Okay," Arthur barely managed out and then they were running again. Down the stairs and into a tunnel with sewage water up to their shins. But they kept running, even when it was too dark to see. Arthur held onto Alfred's hand tightly, relying on him to lead him through. Eventually, they emerged into a massive opening.

There were probably a hundred people living there, probably more. They all had their own little huts or wagons and they all seemed very happy. Until Alfred started shouting.

"Knights are coming!" Alfred nearly yelled and everyone stared at them. Arthur shrank back at all the attention. Someone would probably scream at seeing him… But no one did. They all started getting to work pulling stuff together. "Don't be scared, we're friends," Alfred smiled at him.

"They shouldn't all have to stare at me…" Arthur muttered quietly and Alfred hit him lightly behind his head.

"Stop doing that," Alfred stared at him. "You're one of us now, we don't judge anyone."

"But I-"

"No," Alfred pointed a finger at him and they started walking into the frenzied packing.

"So, who's this?" a woman came up to them.

"Artie," Alfred said happily and slung an arm over him, making Arthur come to his side when he was trying to hide behind him. Arthur just looked down instead. Someone as pretty as her shouldn't look at him.

"He's so shy," she giggled and Arthur noticed her looking straight at him. How brave…

"Yeah, but we should get going," Alfred said. "Do you have any room on your wagon? He's not used to running and I think he's about ready to die."

"Yes, no problem," the woman nodded. "There's always room."

Arthur glanced up at her. He had never known that people could be this nice…

"Sweet, come on," Alfred grabbed both of Arthur's shoulders from behind and started walking him around. As they walked, there was one stand that had a tall mirror leaning against it. As they went past it, Arthur caught a glimpse at it.

Instead of cracking, it held the image of a young man. He had fair skin, light blonde hair that was very raggedy, emerald eyes, and even a trace of a smile on his face. He had rather large eyebrows, but those just accented his beauty. The strange thing was, the young man blinked at the same time as Arthur.

They kept walking quickly past it, but Arthur found his eyes following it.

"Yup, that was you," Alfred said happily, using one hand to mess up Arthur's hair. Arthur's eyes widened. That couldn't have been him…After all this time… "Come on," the came up to a wagon and Alfred effortlessly picked Arthur up and placed him in a wagon. "We'll be out of here in no time." Alfred was smiling up at him and Arthur found that he was smiling back.

The wagon started moving and Arthur could see knights starting to swarm all around them. Knights in shining armor. Arthur rolled his eyes.

No. Alfred was his knight in shining armor.

* * *

**Such a cheesy ending..**.**But, whatever! I've wanted to do this since I saw the Hunchback of Notre Damn forever ago! It was gonna be a chapter story and then I realized I have no time since I'm starting NaNoWriMo tomorrow. The ending seems a bit rushed, but I really can't do anything about it. I rewrote it 3 times, and this is the best one. I do like the idea of him not knowing what he looks like until the very end, and the knights in shining armor, though.**

**And the French "Tu es tres beau" that directly translates to "you are very handsome," but you can consider a different meaning, since it's Francis. And I think he would say something like "You're hot" or "you're sexy" but something from that time period.**

**Anyway, please tell me what you think by leaving a nice review!**

**I don't own Hetalia.**

**And Happy Halloween, for those who celebrate it!**


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